Pretec Demonstrates New SDIO Cards
Pretec is demonstrating 7 new SDIO cards at a retail conference in California. Among the products is a WiFi SD and Bluetooth cards that will be compatible with the Palm OS.
Pretec Electronics is demonstrating seven new Secure Digital (SD) I/O cards for PocketPC and Palm OS PDAs at Pretec booth #IW233B of the North America Retail Vision event in California. The accessories shown include a SD WLAN (802.11b) card, SD Bluetooth, SD GPS, SD 56kbps Modem, SD Camera (VGA and 1.3 mega-pixel), and a SD Barcode Scanner.
The company states that prices will range from $79 to $199, and they will be offered to retail market by Q2/2004. The VGA SD Camera card and the SD Barcode Scanner only be offered to OEMs mainly for vertical applications and industrial customers.
The new line of SD I/O cards utilize Pretec's proprietary and patented "Whanto" technology demonstrated at CES 2004 in Las Vegas, which allows for interchangeability between four (4) different interfacing modules (CF/SD/MS/USB), making it the most flexible solution for multiple interface PDAs. Shipped with SD Interfacing module, Pretec SD GPS and SD Barcode Scanner will be expandable to CF, MS, and USB interfaces simply by changing to another optional interfacing module, allowing users to share the use of Pretec "Whanto" IO cards for several different interfacing host devices.
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RE: Wow!
RE: Wow!
http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1849
--
Psion 5> Vx > m505 > N770C > T625C > NR70V > e310 > T/T > HP h2210 > T/T3 & h4150
StarTac 75 > T28m > T39m > T68m > T610 > T630
RE: Wow!
- Sandisk (Scheduled Q1 2004)
- Hagiwara Sys-Com (Scheduled Q3 2003)
- C-Guys (Scheduled May 2004)
- Pretec (Q2 2004)
RE: Wow!
RE: Wow!
Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: Wow!
As to who will be first with POS drivers, I'm betting either C-Guys or this new Pretec thing. C-Guys may have great (if automated) responses to costomet inqueiries, but Pretec seems more committed to releasing a full product line, which means they will be more willing to invest in more programmers to write the drivers.
The Federation for the Responsible Use of Acronyms
I'm counting on them....
A Palm-Powered Handheld is the bread and butter for many people. Without a Palm-Powered Handheld, your progress is all for naught.
12 GIGS!
No memory, no go
Most (all?) PalmOS PDAs have only one SD slot, and that is usually filled with a memory card. Being forced to remove the memory to be able to wifi seems pretty pointless.
Atul Chitnis
http://atulchitnis.net
RE: No memory, no go
Donald
RE: No memory, no go
Atul Chitnis
http://atulchitnis.net
RE: No memory, no go
Makes me miss the days of the truly "upgradable" Pilot & Palm IIIx!
Basically, any aftermarket peripheral that I've ever seen is more of a kludge than anything else, whether it's a lame SDIO camera or a bulky BT/WI-FI card with outdated or non-existent drivers.
IMHO, a novel feature would be having one SDIO slot exposed (for something like wi-fi) and then an internal mini-SD port (covered like a GSM phone's sim card slot) that is used solely for expansion memory. Something like this would fit on a T|C sized unit. Of course, with that you'd need USB 2.0 support on the Palm when Hotsyncing since it'd be a pain to remove an internal mini SD card to load large files onto it...
RE: No memory, no go
Jon
SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
And here's a nice history lesson:
http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=1011
Palm should have gone with CompactFlash.
2) Only a couple of PalmOS devices have been released with dual expansion slots, so without included memory most SDIO cards would be useless.
3) The market for these SDIO cards is tiny and it will soon be shrinking as PDA sales bottom out + more and more PDAs ship with built-in Bluetooth, 802.11b, GPS, etc. Designs like the European CLIE TH-55 or the UX-50 are the future. FrankenPalms with various SD attachments sticking out of them are for geeks only.
It's massive. Massive.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
Just because there are PDAs with SD slots does not mean people will buy SDIO cards. Once you add up the cost of the cards and consider the inconvenience (using up your memory slot) it starts making more sense to buy a new PDA with built in Bluetooth/802.11b/GPS/etc. if you need those features.
Very few people will buy these cards (if they are ever released.) Remember the Springboard module fiascos?
It's massive. Massive.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
Pretec's lineup looks to be solid, because it addresses areas where they may still may have a market. A WiFi card won't bust down doors, but it will sell. So will a bar code scanner card. Camera cards? That remains to be seen. Personally, I'd rather have the camera card than a built-in, but that's just me.
I like the "FrankenPalm" term, but to me, that applies to an old Visor Dx with a massive Springboard mp3 player hanging off the back--or worse yet, a Visor Edge, with a sled, with the massive SB mp3 player. (Yikes!) I'm not sure I would use such a term with regard to a Tungsten series PDA with 1/2" extra SD for WiFi. Built-in is better, but that'd be pretty low-profile.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
Even a WiFi card with memory would be cumbersome and would require constant swapping of cards and copying of data - Just not worth the trouble in my opinion.
16 months ago these would have sold well just because there were few other options. Now it just makes more sense to get a new Wi-Fi equipped PDA like the T-C, TH-55, or the T4(?)
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
SD shouldn't have over-hyped themselves YEARS before they could deliver the goods.
The goods are now being delivered elsewhere differently, and far less people care that you can get it on a card.
Hey, the folks who were originally enamoured were all running OS4 machines back then, and they're all boned because you need OS5 at least!
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
802.11, SDIO, and 64 MB...
Nokia 3650 bluetooth magnate
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
And there's the bottom line. CF II has endless possibilities. It's small enough to be included in small handhelds (H2215), yet contains enough connectors to give a lighting fast speed, as well as enough space to give huge storage capacity (even hard drives) and room for true peripherals. PalmOne models that don't have integrated Wifi can't use it at all in the SD slot. CF handhelds have had access to Wifi for years. And GPS. And everything else.
Why is Palm still sticking with SDIO? Drop it while you're ahead, each Palm sold has more than enough room and depth for a CF slot, and bundle an SD->CF converter with every new model.
Sony almost got it right with the NX series. That why I've owned three NX models.
-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
Why is Palm still sticking with SDIO? Drop it while you're ahead, each Palm sold has more than enough room and depth for a CF slot, and bundle an SD->CF converter with every new model.
Perhaps Panasonic paid Palm to choose SD as their expansion standard. In a few months, this won't really matter. As the CLIE TH-55 and UX series have shown, integrated connectivity options are the future. With Garmin's next model sporting GPS, Bluetooth AND 802.11b and the new UX having Bluetooth, 802.11b and a expansion that can actually be used, SDIO will quickly go the way of the dinosaurs. The similarities between Vaporware SDIO and the Visor Vaporware Springboard debacle are hilarious.
Re: Mr. Face is Always right. Stop resistance, it's futile.
Let me get this straight....
You would trash a WiFi SD because of the protruding, geeky tab. And, as if that wasn't nonsense enough (do you mean the Palm itself is not geeky?), you start advocating the so many times bigger CF. Take a look at PIC's NX70v review, I guess THAT would be franken'.
Wouldn't you prefer a dual SD slot rather than such a bulk? (in fact, I guess you could have about a 8x slot... :D ). Or, wouldn't you prefer more memory / battery / whatever instead of the huge space used by the CF slot? I certainly would.
I'm not denying the some advantages that CF would bring. But, are you denying SD's advantages? (and, did you know? They keep developing still smaller form factors, the weirdos!)
My non-professional (but certainly not toy-ish) camera uses SD, and that was a big plus for liking the T3 - I can use the same cards on both.
Next, you enlighten us about how useless a WiFi card without memory is. Heh. Yep, if you don't want WiFi, it certainly is useless. How stoopid. "Hey, I took away your ethernet card, but don't worry, I just installed some more memory. Smile, life is good!".
I, for one, want WiFi, partially to REPLACE memory. I would download on demand the files that I had to store locally before. Have you heard about network volumes and such? And about WiFile? (of course, perhaps the OS could make (/ have made) that easier).
Next, you open our eyes to the mindbogglingly tiny SDIO market. Yeah, famine and abject failure will strike whomever dares to try going into that. We should tell all those mismanaged companies to stop trying!
How many people would open a fscking new world for their older palms with a WiFi SD? How many people would be able to buy a non-WiFi palm, knowing that the upgrade path would be there? You seem to second the message hinted by Palm: people that don't buy wireless capable devices surely won't ever need that! So: but it all at once, or get the fsck off! (or get a PocketPC, of course - you know, those joke PDAs that sport upgrade options, the fools)
I guess this all comes from the same wisdom that made you say that Java is useless. Always so quick to invoke doom for whatever you don't fancy and to predict future bliss from whoever you like. By the way, how do you manage to plug Sony on (virtually?) all your posts? Funny.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
It doesn't matter how many - SDIO has proven much more complicated than CF in terms of creating peripherals. It took zero effort on Sony's part to include a CF II slot with their WL-100/WL-110 cards because the cards were already in easy development. With SDIO, the size is so tiny and the bottlenecks are greater. I ask you - why have none of the four companies porting SDIO Wifi cards have it ready yet? It's been almost two years. But yet Memory Stick has a Hagiwara Wifi card available for it. CF has had dozens of Wifi cards available for it. The next stop for CF is 802.11g (why you would want it is so far beyond me, but the idea itself is staggering). SDIO is critically lagging behind, no matter how many cameras or MP3 players use it. And let's not forget you can buy one of the dime-a-dozen SD->CF converters to get your digicam's SD card in your Palm through CF.
Okay, what more proof do these companies need that CF is the way to go?
-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
I'd say that miniaturization isn't really a problem (except for microdrives :P). As we all have seen, what was impossible yesterday, today is just a bit expensive, and tomorrow will be on the commodity side.
why have none of the four companies porting SDIO Wifi cards have it ready yet?
I certainly don't know. But I've read before that Palm* has not been too cooperative with those companies. The fact that the very Palm* has a Bluetooth SD card which they themselves have neglected to make usable on OS 5 makes me think that they're just not interested.
Now, about the convenience of CF or "the way to go". Get me right: I don't care which slot the device has. The more and better, the merrier! (...and we'll decide later which device fits us better). My point was: it's QUITE ridiculous to trash SD cards as "frankenwhatever" and still advocate for the bulky CF. About as ridiculous as saying that expansion options are a non-issue because everything will be thrown in. Well, heh, I just remembered when our friend Facey told me to buy an iQue when I complained that TomTom Navigator still wasn't available for OS 5. He's THAT funny: "do you want a program for your year old device? Then buy some new device!" Whew.
But, back to the subject: the way to go? I'm no hardware designer! But I'd rather have CF's space used by a greater battery, for example. I guess an external sleeve with extra connectivity/slots, like (some?) PPCs, would be a nice option. (Just my 0.02$...)
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
Also OEM *brains*. Let's not forget Palm's history... and there are still people on the Board(s) who *created* that damnable history. Resign, Eric the Red!
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
You would trash a WiFi SD because of the protruding, geeky tab. And, as if that wasn't nonsense enough (do you mean the Palm itself is not geeky?), you start advocating the so many times bigger CF. Take a look at PIC's NX70v review, I guess THAT would be franken'.
Wouldn't you prefer a dual SD slot rather than such a bulk? (in fact, I guess you could have about a 8x slot... :D ). Or, wouldn't you prefer more memory / battery / whatever instead of the huge space used by the CF slot? I certainly would.
Palm Vx geeky? CLIE UX-50 geeky? I don't think so.
CF slots do not add significantly to the size of a PDA. HandEra and HP have shown this fairly conclusively. It's all a matter of designing the PDA properly.
You've naïvely swallowed the SD consortium's propaganda. Hook, line and sinker. SD is for suckers. CF is for people that appreciate superior design and function. We know which camp you're in.
I'm not denying the some advantages that CF would bring. But, are you denying SD's advantages? (and, did you know? They keep developing still smaller form factors, the weirdos!)
My non-professional (but certainly not toy-ish) camera uses SD, and that was a big plus for liking the T3 - I can use the same cards on both.
What is SD's advantage other than a slightly smaller form factor - which is of limited importance in a device as big as a PDA. The size "advantage" is akin to saying one car is better because it has a smaller ashtray.
Next, you enlighten us about how useless a WiFi card without memory is. Heh. Yep, if you don't want WiFi, it certainly is useless. How stoopid. "Hey, I took away your ethernet card, but don't worry, I just installed some more memory. Smile, life is good!".
I, for one, want WiFi, partially to REPLACE memory. I would download on demand the files that I had to store locally before. Have you heard about network volumes and such? And about WiFile? (of course, perhaps the OS could make (/ have made) that easier).
OK RocketBoy, where are you going to STORE those files you just downloaded? On your Palm's built-in 16 - 32 MB of memory? (Assuming you didn't don't have any programs actually installed on your Palm in the first place...) Real smart.
Next, you open our eyes to the mindbogglingly tiny SDIO market. Yeah, famine and abject failure will strike whomever dares to try going into that. We should tell all those mismanaged companies to stop trying!
The Springboard debacle is about to repeat itself. The SDIO companies are going to make the Parachute look like a stroke of genius by comparison. http://www.unilinear.com/main.html
How many people would open a fscking new world for their older palms with a WiFi SD? How many people would be able to buy a non-WiFi palm, knowing that the upgrade path would be there? You seem to second the message hinted by Palm: people that don't buy wireless capable devices surely won't ever need that! So: but it all at once, or get the fsck off! (or get a PocketPC, of course - you know, those joke PDAs that sport upgrade options, the fools)
Wake up buddy.
1) Very few people ever upgrade their Palms. It's been that way since way back when Palm and TRG were offering memory upgrades to the early Palms. Edumacate yourself. Or at least ask someone who's been around long enough to have seen it all. This kind of peripheral is designed for power users - the very people that would shun 802.11b SD cards in favor of a shiny new PDA with wireless already integrated.
2) The cost of the upgrade typically means it makes more sense to just buy a new Palm that has the features already integrated (+ more memory, better screen, new warranty, new software, etc.)
3) Fewer PDAs are being sold each quarter - the market is already drying up.
I guess this all comes from the same wisdom that made you say that Java is useless. Always so quick to invoke doom for whatever you don't fancy and to predict future bliss from whoever you like. By the way, how do you manage to plug Sony on (virtually?) all your posts? Funny.
Java IS useless. Seen any good Java Palm apps recently? What's that? Can't hear you, buddy. Have a seat.
Of all Palm licencees, Sony is making the best hardware right now. No doubt you disagree and feel Acer is the best. Despite this, Sony repeatedly makes bonehead moves like their delay in putting out a 320 x 480 version of the 760 series, failing to include Bluetooth in the North American TH-55 (forcing customers to get gouged by Expansys), not putting in their best screen into the UX-40/50, using horrible button layouts, dumping their slick Jog Dial, crippling the CF slots (to protect their Memory Stick investment), etc., etc. But their PDAs make Palm's look like overprice c r a p. Sorry.
(Even Caneman and his sidekick Boy Bosco wold agree with me 100%. Scary)
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
You just don't get it. First of all, incorporating a CF slot into a PDA doesn't take significantly more space than SD does. Really. Secondly, I have nothing against sticking expansion cards into PDAs, but if you can get a feature like Bluetooth of 802.11b integrated into the PDA it makes a much better solution. Had Palm gone with CompactFlash, they would probably have been able to offer (i.e. actually SELL, not just show vaporware designs) a number of working peripherals years ago when integrated devices were scarce.
In 2004 you can buy a new Bluetooth or 802.11b PalmOS device for only $200 - $300. Who do you think will buy a Bluetooth or 802.11b SD card for $100 - $150? No one. Just like no one will buy an SD camera when their PDA already comes with one. By the end of the year, every mid and high level PDA should have integrated Bluetooth, camera and 802.11b. These SD cards are too late to the market by about two years.
Awww, Facey... go google for "network volume"
I have just the time to answer the funniest line. But I think I've got a shock for you!! ROTF!!! I would NOT store the files, just ACCESS them! Kinda like, you know, your web browser? Or opening docs over the network? Or displaying 10 Gb worth of JPGs over the network? (the important part is, you know, "over the network")
Try googling for "network volumes". Or for WiFile. XD
Of course, if you still advocate for "Palm's are just glorified agendas", then there's no reason for all of this. But then there's no reason either to get past early OS 4 devices... I 'd love to see you explain Tungstens in that context.
A good laugh in the morning... life is good.
RE: SDIO is useless vaporware. Stop fooling yourselves.
(I didn't want the troll to bask in such easy nit-picking! XD )
Looks like someone's had a frosty "brain freeze"
Let's see: you're going to pop an 802.11b card into a 16 MB Palm so you can "display 10 GB worth of JPEGs over the network". And this is supposed to be "Kinda like, you know, your web browser". This is weak - even for you, Frosty.
First of all, how many people do you think actually would do what you apparently claim to do? Secondly, as you're accessing your precious collection of Paris Hilton JPEGs, do you think there's a chance you might actually want to store some of them on your PDA?
At least you now realize that browsers DOWNLOAD the info they read. Good for you. Did someone help you with that one?
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Wow!
Anyone want to predict how much time will PalmOS WiFi drivers be postponed?